Determination of Radon Gas Concentrations and Radon Exhalation Rate in Soil Sample in Selected Regions in Anbar Governorate

Abstract

In the present work, we have measured the radon gas concentrations in soil samples from depth (5 cm) of selected regions in Anbar governorate by using alpha particles-emitters registrations which are emitted form radon gas in (CR-39) nuclear track detector. The results show that, the average radon gas concentration ranged from 44.2±5.0 Bq/m3 in Hit (Zuea District) region to 228.2±11.2 Bq/m3 in AL-Ratba region, with an average value of 106.62±46.5 Bq/m3, while the radon exhalation rate in terms of area ranged from 120.53 µBq/m2h - 622.30 µBq/m2h ,with an average value of 290.74±126 µBq/m2h. Finally, the radon exhalation rate in terms of mass ranged from 4.24 µBq/kg h - 21.90 µBq/kg h, with an average value of  10.22±4.4 µBq/kg h. The present results show that the radon gas concentration in soil samples from depth 5 cm is below the allowed limit from (ICRP, 1993) agency, apart from regions [AL-Ramadi (AL-Warar District), AL-Ratba and Al-Qaim (AL-Abedi District)] which were higher than the allowed limit given by (ICRP, 1993).

Keywords: Radon concentration, Soil , Radon exhalation rate, CR-39 nuclear track detector.